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This Is Why We Are Winning & Dangerous!

The only Woodson who Knicks fans know is a no-nonsense, iron-fisted defensive guru who has turned the Garden drought of defensive ineptness into nine games of defensive beauty. The defensive statistics since the coaching change are startling.
Entering Friday night's game at Philips Arena, the Knicks have allowed 86 points per game under Woodson with opponents shooting a dreadful 40.8 percent. In the first 42 games with Mike D’Antoni, the Knicks allowed 96 points on 44.7 percent shooting. Their defensive rebounding has improved markedly and the Knicks are now a winning team at 26-25 for the first time since early January, when they started 6-5.
Carmelo Anthony, who was not putting out on the defensive end for D’Antoni, can’t stop talking about defense since Woodson took over.
“We are really locked in and focused on what we need to focus on, which is the defense end,’’ Anthony said following the stunning destruction of the Magic Wednesday night when they built a 39-point bulge. “We have been tremendous on that end of the court.’’
This is what Woodson was known as when he left Larry Brown’s championship-winning staff in Detroit to join the young Hawks in 2004-2005. He coached the youngest club in NBA history with 18-year-old Josh Smith, 19-year-old Marvin Williams and 21-year-old Josh Childress that first 13-win season. But after three straight lotteries, he guided the core to playoff berths his final three seasons.
“Mike follows in the footsteps and role model Coach Brown,’’ said former Hawks and Knicks center Dikembe Mutombo, who played for Woodson in Philly when Brown was in charge. “He learned so much from Coach Brown about defense. He knows you get a group of young men who are committed to listen and understand and believe in you as a coach, you have great success.’’
The iron fist Woodson is ruling with is a distinct departure from D’Antoni’s let-the-players-police-themselves philosophy. But Mutombo said Woodson didn’t always do it with shouting.
“He’s not an outspoken person,’’ Mutombo said. “He doesn’t speak that much. But he has the look that makes you wonder: Is coach mad, what is he thinking, does he like what I’m doing or does he have something he wants to tell me?’’
Players appear afraid to giving anything less than full-blown tenacity on defense.
“The thing he does is hold guys accountable,” Anthony said on ESPN Radio this week. “D’Antoni? That’s not him. Nobody expected him to. It’s not his personality. He did it his way.’’
It turned into the wrong way for this club and apparently for Anthony, who has never been known for giving it up on defense. Even Steve Novak, their transcendant 3-point bomber, is talking D.
That Woodson has two key players, center Tyson Chandler and rookie guard Iman Shumpert, who are defensive specialists has helped his cause.
But even Amar’e Stoudemire, before his back injury over the weekend, went from a defensive liability to a demon in the paint after D’Antoni resigned. Chandler said the biggest difference under Woodson is the team is doing less switching on picks and playing harder on the ball.
“Our offense feeds off of our defense and our offense plays better,’’ Novak said. “We’re playing the right way right now. I feel like the pieces we have — Shump, the way he guards; Tyson, he’s is our leader on defense. That side is contagious. You see Shump guarding the ball and getting over screens. That is contagious.’’

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NOTICE WHAT NOVAKAINE SAYS...

IT SPEAKS VOLUMES.

OUR FORMER COACHES WAY WAS THE WRONG WAY. IT WAS SEFLDEFEATING. EVERYONE KNEW THIS.

EVERYONE HAD TO KNOW THAT WAY WAS FUNDAMENTALLY WRONG AND OPPOSITE OF WHAT WE ARE DOING.

IT WAS MASKED WHEN WE HIT SHOTS, JUST AS WE STILL DO...

BUT THE DIFFERENCE NOW IS THAT DEFENSE IS THE PRIORITY AND EVERYTHING STEMS FROM THAT.

Damn! there aint a bookie in town that would spot u 12 to 16 points when u bet
on the Knicks once Dantoni and his bobble-head staff left town.

Stat & Lin out for the Magic game, and I could only get spotted 4 points on the Knicks....
the bookies knew something I didnt know about headcoach Woody.

I guess when a healthy Jefferies return to the lineup giving us a dangerous-defensive-trio
at C-Tyson, F-Jefferies, and G-Shump these bookies will expect me to give up points
when the 8-1 Knicks play oponents with .500 plus records....to scared to call for
the odds on the Knicks at home vs Atlanta Hawks....Damn-u Dantoni....4 seasons of losing, now I have to change my philosophy on a winning Knicks team...

Damn! there aint a bookie in town that would spot u 12 to 16 points when u bet
on the Knicks once Dantoni and his bobble-head staff left town.

Stat & Lin out for the Magic game, and I could only get spotted 4 points on the Knicks....
the bookies knew something I didnt know about headcoach Woody.

I guess when a healthy Jefferies return to the lineup giving us a dangerous-defensive-trio
at C-Tyson, F-Jefferies, and G-Shump these bookies will expect me to give up points
when the 8-1 Knicks play oponents with .500 plus records....to scared to call for
the odds on the Knicks at home vs Atlanta Hawks....Damn-u Dantoni....4 seasons of losing, now I have to change my philosophy on a winning Knicks team...

Doing what's right.

Shortly after taking over as head coach of the Knicks, Mike Woodson said he'd be doing things "a little different" from Mike D’Antoni.

Anyone who has watched the Knicks over the past nine games knows Woodson’s a man of his word. Things are more than "a little different" these days for the Knicks, who are 8-1 under Woodson.

In addition to getting guys to buy in on the defensive end, the interim head coach has found a way to get Carmelo Anthony the ball where he's effective -- in the post.

"I guess he saw that I feel comfortable down there," Anthony said after Wednesday's win over the Magic.

In the past two games, Anthony has operated extensively out of the post, scoring 26.5 points on 48.5 percent shooting. It's by design, partly to make it easier for Anthony to play through a groin strain and partly to make him a more effective scorer.

Debby Wong/US PresswireMike Woodson has Carmelo Anthony right where he and the Knicks want him.

Overall under Woodson, nearly 18 percent of Anthony's touches are in the post, according to ESPN Stats & Information. In 32 games under D'Antoni, Anthony operated in the post 11.7 percent of the time. D'Antoni relied on Anthony to initiate the offense and play on the perimeter. Woodson's offense is heavy on isolation, giving Anthony a chance to operate with his back to the basket.

"Getting it to Anthony on the block definitely seems to be more of a focus [under Woodson]," an Eastern Conference scout said on Thursday.

There have also been ancillary benefits to emphasizing Anthony's post play:

FREE THROWS: In the past two games, he has gotten to the line 18 times, 38 percent higher than his season average.

DOUBLE-TEAMS: The Magic regularly threw a double-team at Anthony in the post on Wednesday night. The result? Thirty percent of Anthony's plays ended in assists. Three of his six assists were on 3-pointers.

EASIER OPPORTUNITIES: Anthony is shooting a career-low 40 percent from the field but hit 48.5 percent of his attempts this week. Overall, he's made 42 percent of his shots under Woodson. Certainly not a huge spike, but a step in the right direction.

Combine all that with the way he has rebounded the ball recently -- 7.25 per game in the past four games -– and it seems clear that Anthony’s engaged in all aspects of the game -- something that seemed to be an issue under D'Antoni.

"Right now, with the coaching change, we've been playing extremely well," Anthony said. "Guys seem to be responding pretty well. We've been locked in our mission."

Anthony's usage has been up in the past two games, mostly due to the absence of Amare Stoudemire (back) and Jeremy Lin (knee).

And that's likely to continue. Lin's status is unclear and Stoudemire is out for at least the next two weeks with a bulging disk in his back.

"A situation like this requires me to step my game up a little bit more, take it up a notch," Anthony said. "I love moments like this."